Every Rose Has Her Thorns
by avatarevan
Summary: Rose Thornberry is thrown into the Hunger Games while she's only fifteen. She's from district eleven. She's partnered with a boy, Digger English. They work together to try to win these games. How long will they survive? Will Rose win?
1. The Reaping

**Author's Note: Well this is my first fanfiction. I really hope this goes well haha.**

* * *

Today is the day of the reapings. My mother spent all of her month's savings buying a dress for me to wear. Most of the kids dress up nicely in case their names are picked. I still can't believe she did that. She doesn't earn much because she works in the wheat fields with my dad. I do like the dress though. It comes down to my thigh and is a turquoise blue. It has a frilled skirt and it's strapless. If I do get reaped, this will be my favorite article of clothing.

"You look rather splendid, my dear."

"Thanks, Mom. Where's Dad? Is he still crying?"

"Yes, he's still crying. I tried explaining to him that you will most likely not be reaped this year, but he told me he had a nightmare in which you were reaped. He's not getting over it. He's hiding down in the wheat fields."

Every reaping day, my dad cries and hides in the wheat fields. His best friend, Plower, was reaped for the second Hunger Games when he was only twelve. That was twenty four years ago. Plower came in eighth place, but was killed by a girl from district seven. Since I'm his only child and we live in district eleven, he wouldn't be able to handle it if I were reaped.

"It's still possible that I could be reaped..."

"Rose! Don't think like that. Even if you are reaped, you're smart and you're fast."

I guess she's right. At least about the being fast part. I used to race the other kids here in eleven. We would run from the shopping area to the wheat fields. I always came in first. I still run a lot, but I don't use it for fun. I help my parents in the wheat fields sometimes, and their job is to take the wheat to the miller. The sacks of wheat are pretty heavy, but I can still run with them in my arms. I guess I'm pretty strong too. Though, I'm not too sure if I'm smart.

I climb down the ladder from our treehouse and look for my dad. I find him laying on the floor crying.

"Dad, can you not be a pessimist just for a while?"

"No, I can't. You're my only child, Rose. If I were an optimist and you were chosen, I wouldn't survive the heartache. Being a pessimist will better prepare me if you _are_ reaped."

"Come on, Dad. Let's just get this over with."

* * *

We walk up to the square in front of the Justice Building. There's a peacekeeper who tells me to give her my finger. She pricks it and rubs my finger on a sheet of paper. I walk over to the fifteen-year-old section and stand by my friend, and only friend, Lily. It's a tradition here in eleven to name girls after flowers.

"Good luck, Lily."

"Good luck to you too, Rose."

The anthem plays and a strange looking man from the capital gives a long and quite boring speech to remind us once again why we have the Hunger Games. I tune him out until he's finished. He leaves the stage and our district representative, Donovan Seascratch, takes the stage. This year he's wearing a bright pink wig, a shiny green suit, and some bright red stilettos. Capital people always look so strange.

"As always, ladies first!"

Donovan reaches into the big glass bowl full of all of our names. He lifts a name and almost begins reading it, but he places it neatly back into the bowl. He does this every year to "add to the anticipation". He snatches up another name and reads it aloud.

"Rose Thornberry! Congratulations, Rose, you will be representing district eleven in the twenty sixth Hunger Games!"

He says it as if it's a happy thing. I scan my environment in search of my parents, and find them standing outside of the square. My mom is crying and holding my dad, who has collapsed. Their only offspring is going to die in the Hunger Games. _You're smart and you're fast._ Like that's going to help me. This all feels like a dream, and it's happening too fast.

"Come on, deary! Hurry up!"

I climb onto the stage, and I don't not what to think. I'm the daughter of two simple field workers. How on _Earth_ could I possibly win. Now I feel like a hypocrite for telling my dad not to be a pessimist. _I'll win for you. Don't you worry. _I'm lying.

"And now for the boys!" Donovan quickly clip-clops his way to the boys' bowl. He does the same grab-then-drop-then-grab-another thing.

"Digger English! Congratulations!" How can that stupid man think that this is something to be proud of?

I see three boys standing together. They're hugging each other now, and I think two of them are crying. Wow, he's only fourteen. He has light skin, unlike mine. Most people here in eleven have dark skin. Before the war, some people from the other districts moved here for the cleaner air we have here. His hair is almost white, and his eyes are a deep emerald green. He's very tall, almost too tall to be fourteen. He looks solid, unlike most of the field workers. Most of them look like they haven't eaten in days, and most of them haven't. His parents must be shopkeepers.

"People of Panem, these are your district eleven tributes! May the odds be ever in their favor!" I look over to Donovan, and he looks like he's going to cry, but he's smiling. Those eyes don't say he's happy...

* * *

As soon as the cameras are cut off, we are escorted into the Justice Building. Digger and I are placed into different rooms. God, he's so cute. I walk into the room I'll be saying my last farewells to the people I love. The peacekeepers shut the door behind me. I'll call this the farewell room.

The door opens, and Lily walks in.

"Rosie, you better not die. You win these games and you come home a victor. Is that clear?"

I nod my head, but I have no idea what to say. We hug for about a minute, and cry into each other's shoulders.

"I know it's not much, but I want you to take this back."

Lily hands me the sapphire studded ring I found, and gave to her when we were little. Lily has been my best friend since we were little. We met each other in the berry class in school. We quickly bonded and vowed to each other never to have any other friends. The purpose of having no other friends is so that no one can come between us. I found the ring one day while helping my dad carry the wheat sacks to the miller. It must have belonged to someone from the capital because nothing that nice is sold here in eleven. Now she's giving it back to me. This ring is now the most precious thing I have ever owned. I guess you could say that I just reaped what I sowed. I gave her the ring when it was of little value to me, but now now she's giving it back and it means so much more.

The peacekeepers drag Lily out of the room. She's reaching out for me. _I'll be ok. It's fine. This is just a dream. _I need to stop lying to myself and accept the fact that I'm going to die.

It feels like hours before my parents come in. We say absolutely nothing to each other. We just stare at each other and hug and cry. The peacekeepers walk in again and take my parents away. I'll never get to see them again, and all I get is three minutes?

Donovan Seascratch walks in with Digger to tell me that it's time to go.

"Isn't this great? You're going to be the talk of Panem!"

"Look, Mr. Stiletto, this is the _worst_ day of our lives, so could you please stop acting like this is a good thing and shut up? All of Panem will not be talking about us because they'll be talking about the careers like they always do. There is no reason to be excited."

"Digger, I know this is hard, but I honestly think you two have a chance. I know that I'm being annoying, but this is all an act. It's part of the job description. Now let's get on the train and go to the capital, dearies."

"So you _do_ have a brain!"

The three of us start laughing. I'm starting to like Digger. He's smart, intelligent, strong, and unbelievably cute. If I die, I hope he comes back as the victor. He has a better chance than I do anyway.


	2. The Train

**Author's Note: I really hate love stories. I know the first chapter made it look like Rose and Digger were going to get together, but there's a surprise at the end of this chapter :D and sorry, I know the chapters are really short, but I'll write as many as I can :D**

* * *

The instant we get onto the train my breath is taken away. The place is magnificent. The windows are crystal clear. The carpet is thick and white. The dining room is bigger than my tree house! It's so cruel of the capital to let us ride such a lovely train before we all die.

"Just wait 'til we get to the capital, deary. This is nothing compared to the capital. Go ahead, explore. Just make sure you're back here in the dining car when I call for you. Rosie, your room is down that hall to the left, and Digger, yours is down this hall to the right."

Rosie? Only Lily calls me that. Well, I guess it's fine. I walk down the hall that Donovan told me to walk through. There are three doors. Each has a symbol on it. On top of the first door is a symbol that looks like a bathtub. I'm assuming this is the bathroom. I don't need to go right now. On the second door is a television. I guess this is some sort of entertainment room. On the last door is a bed. Ah, here it is!

I walk into my room, and see that this room is huge. There is a bed, a wardrobe, and a magnificent mirror. I lay down in my bed. Beside me is a remote. I take the remote and stare at it wondering which of these odd buttons I should press. I press one that looks like a rock. Within a few seconds, my bed is rock solid. At first it's painful, but it's also oddly comfortable.

* * *

I take a nap and fall into the dream world. I see my dad crying. He's just sitting in the field crying. How I wish I were there to comfort him. The wheat is starting to turn into snakes. They're not even trying to bite him though. Not _him_, but they're coming after _me._ Slowly they slither towards me. I can't move. I'm trapped.

"Rosie! Digger! It's dinner time!" Thank you so much Donovan.

* * *

For a while I forget where I am. I walk back down the hallway. When I walk into the dining car, it's apparent that I'm the last one here.

"This is your mentor, Greyson White."

Greyson won five years ago. He's the only victor we've ever had. That year, the arena was a desert. The games only lasted for four days that year. He only won because he was good at hiding. He hid in the sand and didn't move except when he needed water. He was only twelve. Now he's seventeen. It's sad how we're being mentored by a seventeen year old.

"Hello, Rose and Digger. I'm supposed to be your mentor, but the only advice I could possibly give you is to stay alive. "Great, he's not going to help us.

"Are you serious? You know that's not the only advice you can give us. Please, Greyson, tell us anything that will help us."

"I'll tell you something. The careers think that winning is depended upon your strength and endurance, but what really counts is intelligence. If you're smart enough, you can win these games."

Digger keeps trying to get Greyson to say more, but eventually Greyson just starts ignoring him. He just eats. I think I understand why Greyson doesn't want to tell us anything. He thinks that there's no chance of us winning, and by him helping us we'll have more hope. He doesn't want us to hope because there is none; at least in his mind.

"I know why you won't tell us anything. You think we can't win and that there's no point in telling us anything. You don't want us to get our hopes up because you think there is none."

Greyson just ignores me. Digger and I both agree not to try to get him to say anything again. Instead, we decide to eat. There's this weird orange soup, some pork, bright yellow bread, cranberry sauce, and some ice cream. We rarely get to eat any of this in eleven.

"Aw man. They didn't fix us any of the good stuff. Kids, this is nothing compared to what's normally served. Oh well. Dig in!"

We obey Donovan. I don't know how anything could taste better than any of this food, but then again all I ever eat is bread. This yellow bread is nothing like the bread back home. I eat slice after slice after slice until I feel like I'm going to vomit.

"Careful, Rosie, don't eat too much. It'll make you sick. I think it's time we go to the entertainment room to watch the reapings."

Everyone except for Greyson quickly finishes their food. Donovan has to drag Greyson away from the table.

* * *

We walk into the entertainment room to a huge television. Donovan turns it on. He tells us that no matter how strong or fearsome anyone looks, they're still just children like us. He really believes in us. Is he like this with all the other tributes?

After the anthem plays, the district one representative picks the first name. It doesn't even matter who she was, there was a volunteer. Her name is Kitty. The boy tribute from one doesn't get a volunteer. His name is Crok. Both of them look pretty scary, but Kitty looks more like a killing machine than Crok does. The district two tributes don't look as scary as usual. The boy from three's name is Carlisle. He has such a kind face. He looks like he can't be any older than thirteen. I ignore most of the tributes. The tributes from seven really catch my eye though. They're twins. That is the most awful thing ever. The girl from nine is only twelve. She has bright red hair, and she's absolutely adorable. How could _anyone_ kill her? When I see us on the screen, it's as if I'm there again. When they call my name, there is no emotional response. I can see Lily crying, but I stare blankly at the stage. God, don't I look like an idiot? When Digger is called, I can see him hugging his friends again. The guy with the auburn hair seems especially close to him. Finally the district twelve tributes are called: Margaret Tile and Wayne Steele.

"Watch out for one this year. They seem especially awful. Make an alliance with anyone who is willing and who has an actual chance of winning. Don't just ally yourself with people who are nice. Whatever you do, don't team with twelve. They've never had a victor, and I'm not quite sure they'll ever have one." Greyson is actually helping us.

"Twelve doesn't look as bad as normal this year. Why do you have to single them out?"

"Digger, the careers go after the strongest and the weakest. Being in the middle is the best place to be if you don't want to be killed by them. Twelve is the weakest every year. If you team up with twelve, you'll have an even worse chance than you already do. By all means, if you feel like you absolutely _have_ to form an alliance with them, then do it."

"I think that's enough for today. I'm going to bed. You guys can do whatever you want, but make sure you get some sleep." With that, both Greyson and Donovan leave.

* * *

I can feel my ears warming up and my feet grow cold. I really like Digger. I've only known him for a few hours, but he's just so amazing. He changes the channel to Panem news. I don't watch. All I do is stare into his eyes. _I should tell him. I'm going to die anyways._

"Digger?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Of course I had to ask a stupid question like that.

"Rosie, you're absolutely gorgeous." I'm blushing.

"Digger, I _really_ like you. I know I'm a year older than you, but you're so cute and smart and you seem really nice too. We're most likely going to die in a few days anyway." Digger breaks into a laughing fit. "What's so funny?" This is starting to irritate me. "This is getting awkward. I'm going o bed."

"Hold on, Rosie. That's really sweet of you. Do you remember on the video the two friends I was hugging?"

"Yeah…"

"Well one of them is my brother, and the other is…" He breaks into laughter again.

"Digger, seriously just spit it out. What's so funny?"

"The other one is my…" This is really getting on my nerves. "He's my…" Now he's doing that weird silent laugh. The one that makes it sound like you're dying. "Whew. Ok, he's my boyfriend." Oh crap. I should have known. No guy _that_ cute could ever like a girl like me.

"Oh… Well that's great I guess…"


	3. Beef and Potato Stew

**Sorry it's taken me forever to upload this one. I've lots of school, but I'm hoping I'll be able to do this more often. Well this chapter is basically just a setup and is full of foreshadowing. Hope you like it XD**

* * *

The countdown starts. I can barely control my fear. The girl from nine is starting to look like a horse. Ok, this is very strange. When the timer reaches zero, everyone starts dancing. What the hell is going on?

"Come on, Rosie. Kiss me. I love you."

"What about your boyfriend? Didn't you just… Oh… This must be a dream."

Digger kisses me, so I pinch myself to wake up.

* * *

"Good morning sleepy head." Why must Digger tease me like this? Ugh, that smile is just so beautiful.

"What time is it? How long have I been asleep?"

"Well, we're almost to the capitol. You've been asleep for a pretty long time. You're awake in time for lunch though. Donovan didn't want to wake you."

"What's for lunch?"

"We're having beef and potato stew. That's it, but Donovan said many tributes love it."

"I'll be ready in a second. Now get out of my room."

"Yes ma'am. I'll be waiting for you, baby." Oh my God, seriously he's just being cruel now.

It feels like a mile away to my wardrobe. I open it and see some of the prettiest clothes. My turquoise dress is nothing compared to these dresses. I decide to wear the white and blue polka dot dress. I think it suits me. I walk up to the mirror and open up a drawer beside it. There's make up. I've never worn makeup before, so I guess it's time to wear it now. I apply the makeup. At first it looks messed up, but it fixes itself. I think I look really pretty.

I walk back down to the dining car. Everyone's already started to eat.

"Oh my goodness, Rosie, you look extravagant. I really do think that shade of blue suits you. Come sit down and eat your food."

I obey Donovan. I sit down and begin to chow down on this heavenly stew. It's most definitely the most delicious food I have ever eaten. It's extremely filling too.

"This is delicious! Wait, where's Greyson?"

"The lazy donkey still sleeps."

"I'm not asleep, Donovan." Greyson looks a hot mess.

"I believe it is time to plan strategies for the children."

"It's quite simple, there is none because they're both going to die. Look at Rose. Her skin isn't dark enough to hide in the shadows, but it's dark enough to be easily noticeable in the day time. And just look at her hair. It's so curly and long. No matter which arena they go to, she won't be able to hide with that hair. She's so awkwardly tall, and the female careers will be jealous because of how beautiful she is. Her eyes are a dark brown, her nose is big, but not too big, and her lips are really puffy. The only possible way for her to win is if she joins the careers. Digger may look tough, but he's nothing compared to the careers. His hair is so blonde, anyone could see him from a mile away. He's also too tall to hide very well. He's so white it could blind a man. Neither of them is going to win. The farthest I can even see Digger is fifth place. Without killing or joining the careers, Rose won't win."

"He's right."

"See? My work is done, now let's eat."

"No, I mean Rose could join the careers, and then Digger and Rose could kill the careers."

"Don't be ridiculous, Donovan. Unless Rose has been lifting sacks and racing all her life, the careers won't accept her."

"Actually, I have been lifting sacks and racing all my life."

"Do you people even understand sarcasm?" Greyson takes his bowl with him and leaves.

"Do you really think I could join the careers then kill them? How am I going to be accepted into their group?"

"Normally our strategy for the tributes is for them to lay low and not do their best in training. This keeps the careers away. Digger, that is what you will do. Rose, you will do your best. Talk with the careers. Pretend to be ruthless and optimistic. You'll have to prove yourself as trustworthy, strong, and intelligent."

"I've only really ever had one friend, but I think I can pull off trustworthy. I can definitely be strong. I'm not too sure if I'm very intelligent, but I took a berry class a few years ago. They taught us how to identify most plants, berries, and roots."

"That is definitely extremely resourceful. The absolute worst that could happen is you aren't accepted, and they hunt you down first. Let's hope that doesn't happen. As for you, Digger, you'll need to learn things like camouflage, knot tying, trapping, and climbing. Those skills are very important, but the careers don't normally care for tributes who learn those skills during training. During training, don't act like allies. Digger will need to pretend to be weak, and Rose will be strong. It will add to the ruthless act that Rose will be putting on. And remember, Rosie, be optimistic." Optimism isn't my strong point, but I can do it.

"It's funny how Greyson is supposed to be our mentor, yet you're the one setting up our strategy, Donovan."

"Greyson did give me the ideas, Digger. Get ready to get off the train. We'll be arriving in the capital shortly."

I go back to the room to get my ring. I decide to take the makeup and some of the dresses with me. I haven't spent much time in here, but I'm going to miss it, especially my rock solid bed.

* * *

We've arrived at the capital. As soon as we get off of the train, I'm deafened by the cheers if the capital people. I smile and wave and the cheers grow louder. I feel like my ears are going to bleed. Donovan leads the three of us to a building. When we walk in, the cheering quiets down.

"They love you two. You're both very attractive teenagers, so you'll likely get a few sponsors. Ah, here it is. Get on the elevator you two. Hurry up! Ok now Rosie, press the eleven button."

I press the button and we're taken to the eleventh floor. Well duh. The walls are painted a brown color. There are some paintings of people working in the wheat fields.

"It's supposed to make you feel at home. I like it actually. Well, you've already eaten lunch so I think you can explore and go to your rooms. Be sure to take showers you two. You don't smell very nice. I'll call you down for dinner to meet your stylists. And remember to sleep. You'll start training tomorrow at ten. Don't be late." Donovan walks away in his stilettos. Hmm, they're purple today. I don't understand why anyone would wear stilettos or have multiple pairs of shoes.

I decide to explore the apartment. I run into a girl with black shiny hair. I say excuse me, but she just stares at me with startled eyes. She doesn't speak, she just walks away. That is odd. I find my room and I'm astonished by how much space there is. This one is bigger than the one on the train. It has its own bathroom, closet, giant mirror, a television that takes up an entire wall, and a window. There's a remote by the window. I randomly press one of the buttons and the setting changes from the glorious capital to the simple fields in eleven. It looks so real, but the people in it are repeating the exact same thing over and over again. This must be electronic. I walk over to my closet. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before opening the closet. I walk in and open my eyes. The size of it is just excessive. I'm only supposed to stay here for four days, but there is enough clothing to wear for a year. I leave the closet and go to the mirror. Again there is makeup, but there's a lot more. The only kinds of makeup I know are lipstick and eye shadow, but there is so much more here. There's even perfume, but I'm pretty sure that isn't make up. _This is the last place I'll stay before I die. No, I have to win. What am I saying, I'm so losing._ Walking into the bathroom leaves me angry. How can the capital be so cruel as to allow us such luxury before dying? Actually, that's quite nice.

I walk into the shower. Great, another remote is here. I still have no idea what any of the buttons mean. I click three random buttons. The water is just the right temperature and it smells like roses. Above me some shampoo and conditioner is rubbed into my hair. Now some water jets are spraying my body with rose scented soap. I'm rinsed off. I like the smell of roses, but this is too much. It's overwhelming my nostrils.

* * *

"Digger and Rosie, come to dinner!" Oh, Donovan is just so fabulous.

I leave my room and make my way to the dining room. Greyson, Donovan, and two women are waiting for us at the table. One of them has pink skin. Although it's quite freaky, she's really pretty. Her hair is a bright red and is very wavy and shiny. The other lady looks somewhat normal, but her eyes are cat-like. Digger walks out in a bright red suit. He's left his hair messy, but he smells amazing. He winks at me. _Stop it Digger, I know you don't like me. You have a boyfriend._

"These lovely ladies are Officia and Star. Officia is the pink one. Officia will be your stylist, Digger. Star will be yours, Rosie."

"It's nice to meet you, Rose." Oh my God, her eyes blinked sideways. Those eyes have definitely been altered.

"It's nice to meet you too."

"My goodness you are a pretty girl. You look like you'll be easy to work with."

For dinner we have pork and beans. It's delectable. I ignore most of the dialogue going on between the other five at this table. The stylists talk about their "busy" lives in the capital. Greyson and Donovan argue over whether or not we could possibly win. Digger just blabbers on and on about his boyfriend. _Love me, Digger! Just love me!_

"Alright, dinner's over. Go to bed. We'll see you in the morning."


	4. Butterfly Wings

**I kinda felt like I needed to write another chapter since I had some time to spare. So yeah. Well hope you like it XD and oh almost forgot, I got my first follower :D**

* * *

"Ok, I know it's early, but you two need to meet with your stylists so that they can dress and make you up for the training today. Digger, remember to practice survival skills and not any combative skills. Rose, practice both combative and survival skills. You'll have three days to train here, so train wisely. Today is also the day you must make alliances. Greyson is still asleep, but he told me to tell you these things. He thinks you two have a chance of winning. Now, eat up dearies."

For breakfast we have eggs with some spicy sausage. I think a few hundred years back it was called "chorizo". I really like it. It's amazing.

"I do think it's quite nice. Don't you, Rose? What do you normally eat for breakfast?"

"We normally eat bread back in eleven. It's not as bad as it sounds."

"Well, I hope you like this. I think you two have a real chance." _I don't._

I like star. Her eyes give me the creeps though. As soon as we finish our food she takes me back to the bathroom. She introduces me to my prep team. Their names are Box, Hammer, and Tape. I think they're triplets, but they each have a different color skin. Box is red, Hammer is blue, and Tape is green. These guys are obviously from the capital; no people from the other districts are this fat.

The whole time they're cleaning and grooming me they're complimenting my skin and hair. Hammer asked a very odd question. He asked if we could trade skin. I think he was joking, but these capital people are insane. About thirty minutes into it, they tell me to stand up and look into the mirror. I've only been waxed, cleaned, and had a haircut yet I still think this is the most beautiful I've ever looked. The triplets all smile at me and call Star back into the bathroom.

"Don't you guys think she's just absolutely gorgeous? Definitely the prettiest girl I've worked on." I'm blushing. However, these people seem to have a strange sense of beauty. I'm not too sure if I'm actually pretty.

"I'll be right back, Rose."

Star comes back with a skin tight blue unitard. She presses a button on a remote and it turns into a turquoise unitard.

"It's to match your dress from the reapings. I really think the color suits you. Here, take this jacket. It'll make it less awkward to wear. And now it is time for your make up."

She leaves the room again and comes back with a suitcase full of makeup. Oh my lord, how much is she going to put on me? To my surprise, she doesn't put much on. She made my cheek bones stand out, made my lips blue, and thickened my eyelashes. She pulls out a hair straightener.

"Your hair is amazing, but I'm straightening it so that it's easier to work with."

She finishes straightening my hair and braids it. I look very attractive. I'm glad that I'll be pretty for at least some of my last days alive.

"It's almost ten o'clock. You should head down to the training center with Digger. Remember your strategy, Rose." _As if it'll work. The careers won't accept me and I'll be hunted down quickly. Might as well try right?_

* * *

I meet Digger in the elevator. We head down to the training center. It's fifteen minutes before ten. Only the career districts are here. They're talking about me. _Oh please let it be positive, oh please oh please oh please._

"Digger, did you have any dreams last night? I didn't."

"I dreamt that you won the games. You had a nickname. I think it was 'The Traitor'. Everyone loved you."

"If anything,_ you're _going to win, Digger. I wasn't prepared for this. I never was and I never will be."

"None of us are, Rose."

One by one the other tributes arrive. After everyone is here, a woman named Spira welcomes us. She looks like she's in her early forties. She's well-built and has light skin.

"For the next three days you will be training for the games. There is to be absolutely no fighting while you are here."

She shows us all of the different stations. There are camouflage, climbing, knot tying, plant identification, sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat, archery, lifting, knife throwing, running, and trapping stations. Digger winks at me and heads straight for camouflage. I decide on going to the camouflage, climbing, plant identification, hand-to-hand combat, knife throwing, and running stations. If I do what I'm best at, hopefully the careers will notice me and think I'm resourceful.

I decide to start with camouflage. The instructor teaches me how to use nature to disguise myself. I learn how to make my arm look like a branch, how to make myself look like sand, how to hide in snow, and add make myself look like basically anything. The careers are watching Digger and me at the camouflage. Kitty winks, lifts her knife, points at me, then throws the knife at a dummy.

I decide to skip climbing for now and go straight for lifting. I'm taught how to use my legs and arms to lift seemingly impossibly heavy things. I lift a boulder, some ancient kitchen appliances, and a 200 pound weight. Those wheat sacks really did help. I take the 200 pound weight and throw it towards the careers. All of them stare at me and drop their jaws out of astonishment. Kitty smiles at me. I smile right back. I hope that didn't end any chance I have of joining them.

* * *

"It's time for lunch. Drop what you're doing and eat."

Digger sits with the twins from seven and the girl from nine. I decide to sit alone. Digger and I will not be teamed up with each other until the games begin and the careers have been killed.

"Your name's Rose isn't it? I'm Kitty and this is my district partner, Crok. Our mentor told us to find any other tributes who prove to be reliable in the arena. We've got our eyes set on you, but you haven't exactly proved yourself strong enough yet. Be careful, Rose. One sign of weakness and you'll be killed in the bloodbath."

"Ok." _Oh God I'm an idiot. Ok? Why would I say something so stupid?_

Kitty winks at me. She goes back to sit with the other careers. _Just one sign of weakness and I'm dead._

"Hello, we're from twelve. You look mighty pretty today. Mind if we sit here?" _Just one sign._

"Oh, sorry, I was just about to go talk to my district partner. I hope you two make some allies."

If they survive the bloodbath, I have to make this up to them. I look over at Kitty and she nods her head in approval. I hate her so much, but if I have to be a bitch to join the careers, that's what I'll do.

"Hey beautiful. These are the tributes from seven and nine." He winks at me and makes a kissy face. This hoe is going to get it.

I shake their hands. We mostly talk about our lives back in our districts. The twins, Roy and Callie, help with the lumber work. The girl from nine, Ornament, harvested the corn with her parents. The trio are very kind. It haunts me though how Roy and Callie are twins and Ornament is only twelve.

After lunch we go back for more training. I decide to learn some hand-to-hand combat. It's a breeze for me. Ornament decides to join me and try to learn as well. It's not as easy for her, but she's not the worst at it. The instructor teaches us how to break bones, particularly the ribs and neck. He brings out some realistic dummies. They have bones and everything, except they're not alive. I look over at Kitty. She's watching me closely. I quickly snap the neck of the dummy and smile at Kitty. She smiles back._ How long can I keep this up?_

"Head back to your rooms. You'll need to talk further on your strategies for the games. Make sure to get plenty of rest."

* * *

"How was it?"

"It was fantastic, Donovan. I've formed an alliance with the tributes from seven and the girl from nine."

"And you, Rose?"

"I've formed an alliance with the girl from nine and possibly the twins from seven. The careers have been watching me. Kitty, the girl from one, told me that I need to show strength in order to join the careers. So far she seems impressed."

"Good job you two. If only Greyson would hurry up so we can further develop your strategies."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Greyson walks as fast as a turtle to the table. "First, you're going to need a safe water supply. Rose, if the careers do in fact happen to accept you as a career, you'll most likely have water purifiers in your possession. Digger, you might have to boil yours, but only start fires during the day. They'll be less noticeable that way, except for the smoke of course. After water, you'll need food and shelter. You'll need all the rest you can get, but make sure to stay up long enough to see which tributes died, and wake up before noon. Rose, if they don't accept you, hide. If they do accept you, you'll need to kill at least one person in the bloodbath. Beware of all the creatures. They are not ever as they seem, and the game makers like to make muttations. I'm very tired. Get ready for your stylists. Tomorrow we'll talk about your angles for the interviews."

"Well, that went well. Donovan, what did you tell him to convince him to actually help us?"

"All I said is that anyone has a chance as long as they're assisted, Digger. Now go to meet with your stylists you two."

* * *

Star is waiting for me in my bathroom again. I'd almost forgotten that today is the parade.

"Ok, so Officia and I have come up with your costumes. Since your district is agriculture, Digger will be dressed up as a flower and you will be a butterfly. Trust me, it sounds bad, but it's going to look amazing. Box, you put her hair into two thin braids. Stand them up to look like antennae. Hammer, make this dress for me. Here's the design. Tape, do her make up. I'll do the wings."

It takes almost two hours, but they manage to finish. They turn me around to look in the mirror again. Star was right, I do look amazing. The wings are regal. My dress is turquoise. Oh my goodness it's turquoise. My makeup was done to make my eyes pop out. The eyeshadow is a bright blue, but they left the lashes alone. Tape added so many colors to my face, but not so much as to hide my natural caramel colored skin.

"I designed the dress after the one you wore during the reaping. I made a few minor corrections, but I hope you like it."

"It's absolutely perfect."

"Here are your shoes. I know you probably don't like heels, but they look nice on you. They're meant to match your dress. Now go meet Digger and go to the parade."

* * *

We're taken to our horses. I can barely pay attention to what's going on because Digger just looks so sexy. I thought they'd dress him up in a flower suit, but they just slicked his hair back and gave him an extremely colorful suit to wear. I can tell he's supposed to be a flower. Kitty is wearing a silver dress and she's wearing tons of jewelry. Crok is just in a silver suit. The tributes from two are dressed up like blacksmiths. The tributes from three are dressed up like gears. Oh lord what were these stylists thinking. Most of the costumes are quite simple, so I don't really pay attention to any more of them until it's time for us to go. As soon as we are visible to the crowd, everyone is cheering. I start smiling and waving and the cheering grows louder. I glance over at Kitty. She smiles and nods her head at me.

"Oh my God you two were stunning out there. One was probably your only competition this year. You are definitely going to get sponsors. Off to bed, dearies. You need your rest."


	5. Nightlock

**I hope it's not _too _short. Hope you like it XD. Whoa, well I just realized that I accidently posted chapter two as this chapter. I'm soooo sorry. Hope that wasn't too bad.**

* * *

I look up at the sky and the anthem plays. All the faces are blurry, but I can tell that only six died. I look over at Digger and he nods his head. There are six boulders, but they're breathing. We slowly move them together one by one so that we don't wake them. We push them out of the sky and six cannons boom.

* * *

"Rose, move your lazy ass and come to breakfast."

I get dressed and go to the dining room. I sit next to Star and wait for our breakfast to be served to us. We are given this green goopy stuff. I have no idea what it is, but it's decent.

"It's to give you the nutrition you need to obtain a good score when you're trying to impress the game makers. Remember, you only have three minutes, so spend your time wisely. Rose, impress them. Digger, lay low. Remember the plan. When you come back from training we'll discuss you're angles for your interviews." I'm guessing Donovan is forcing Greyson to talk to us.

* * *

My prep team makes me look the same as yesterday. I meet Digger in the elevator.

"Rose, I'm really scared. What if our plan goes horribly wrong? What if they kill you first?"

"They won't, Digger." Obviously I'm thinking the same as him.

"I just want to make it out of the bloodbath. I want to be fifteen before I die."

"Wait, when is your birthday?"

"It's the day after the first day in the games. If I make it out of the bloodbath, I can hide. I'm good at hiding."

Once everyone is in the training center, Spira tells us the rules again and we start. I go to the knife throwing station. I don't have the best aim, but after about two hours of constant practice, I get better. Pretty soon, I'm hitting my targets. I hear the twang of a sword and look over at the sword fighting station. Kitty is practicing with the instructor. She looks at me, and I remember her words: _Just one sign._ I take the knife I'm holding in my hand and throw it at the heart of one of the dummies. It was a perfect hit. She looks impressed, but she's not totally distracted.

I don't necessarily _need_ to go to the climbing station, but I know that I can beat anyone at it. I remember back home we used to have tree climbing races. I would always win. The twins are here learning to climb too. Since they're from seven, I assume that they can climb. They can, but when I start it seems that I'm better than them at it. This time Kitty isn't the one impressed, it's Crok. He's giving me a thumbs up. I should probably continue doing the things I know best in order to impress the careers.

This time, I go to the plant identification station. I call the careers over.

"Even if I'm not allowed to join you, let me at least show you that I'm smart as well as strong. If you want to survive, you'll need someone who knows their plants."

"I see you're determined to join us. Fine, we'll watch you. This is most definitely not how you'll prove yourself to us. To do that, you'll have to score at least a ten with the game makers." _Holy shit, how am I supposed to get a ten?!_

I go to the machine to begin the plant identification. At this station there's no instructor. It's a sorting game. There are pictures of plants and there are two sections to sort them into. One section is "edible/useful" and the other is "inedible/poisonous". I quickly sort them all into the different sections. The last plant left is nightlock. I'm about to place it in the "inedible/poisonous" section, but I change my mind. It can be used to poison and kill people. Within seconds of consumption, the nightlock will kill you. I move it to the "edible/useful" section. The machine tells me I missed one plant. The careers start to laugh at me, but I turn around with a bit of an evil smile on my face.

"Oh, Rose, it seems you don't know your plants. Too bad, you would have made an excellent career."

"Oh, Kitty! Nightlock is poisonous. That's why I placed it in the useful section. It can be used to poison any water source. Is the deal still open?"

"I guess you still can be of some use to us. Score at least a ten, and show no sign of weakness."

* * *

At lunch, we're served the same green substance. I'm tempted to sit with my true allies, but the careers beckon me over. _I have to prove myself._ Kitty asks me to sit next to her.

"So, Rose, how was life like in eleven?"

"Well, my parents take care of the wheat fields, and I help to deliver the sacks. It's really quite a dull place. Most of the people back home are starving, but I guess I was just lucky." Kitty gives me a face that says _I'm sorry._ I guess she's an actual person.

Halfway through our conversations about home and what we do, Spira comes in to tell us that one by one we will be called in to impress the game makers. The room is emptying, and once the careers are gone, I sit with twelve.

"So your name's are Margaret and Wayne, right?"

"Yeah. And you're Rose. Everyone thinks you have a chance at winning. You're really pretty. We both hope you win. We don't stand a chance, and we don't have much of a life back home."

"Everyone has a chance. I promise you guys that you'll make it out of the bloodbath. I don't care what you two are planning, run as fast as you can away. If I find you, I'll give you backpacks and weapons. After that, you're on your own. Good luck out there." I've filled them with false hope. Now I have to make sure they survive.

My name is called and I walk into the room that matters the most to my survival. I have three minutes. I run as fast as I can and start throwing knives at the dummies. I'm hitting my targets perfectly. It feels like I only have one minute left, so I climb up and down a pole as quickly as I can. Then, I throw a 130 pound weight across the room. I'm exhausted, but I hope I impressed them. I go back to our floor and hope for the best.

* * *

"Rose, Digger, come here. They're about to show everyone's scores."

First is Kitty. She scores a nine. Crok scores an eight. The district two tributes both score an eight. The girl from three gets a five while the boy gets a three. He'll be seen as weak and he'll die pretty quickly. Poor guy. District four is the same as two. District five gets a six and a four. Six gets a four and an eight. Seven gets both nines. I wonder what they did. Eight gets a two and a three. Goodness that's low. Nine gets a six and a seven. Ten gets a one and a two. Holy shit, they're doomed. My name and picture shows up on the screen. I score a ten. I'm elated. I can't contain my joy. I've done it. Before anyone even thinks about cheering, we wait for Digger's score. He gets a five. Our plan is beginning to work. Twelve both get fives. This is exciting. I really do have a chance, and I got the highest score. Normally that would be a terrible thing, but if they weren't lying, I'm part of the careers now.

"Oh my God, Rose, what did you do? Good job by the way, Digger."

"I ran, threw knives, climbed, and threw a very heavy weight across the room."

"If the careers haven't accepted you, this is your doom. If they have, congratulations." I'm so glad that Greyson is being of some use lately.

Donovan walks in, "Now we need to figure out your angles."

"I think Digger should be comical and lovestruck. It'll make the people fall in love with him. Rose, choose your own angle. In order to join the careers, don't be yourself." I don't think he'd be helping us unless we had a chance. Although, he's required to help. Yeah, he doesn't care.

"I'm going to be ruthless."


	6. Fierceness

**I am so sorry I haven't posted a new chapter in FOREVER. I had a musical to do and I was on vacation. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Review please? Thanks. ;D**

* * *

Kitty's slit Digger's throat. All I can do is cry. She comes after me and I start running. I take the pencil that has suddenly appeared in my hand and throw it at her. It hits her, but she grows into a giant. There is no way I can run now. She begins an innocent giggle. I sure hope this is a dream…

"Morning, Rosie. Get ready for training. We'll meet you in the bathroom."

I meet the triplets in the bathroom. They put the same thing on me as usual. I head down to the table for breakfast. I have no idea what this is, but whatever. It gets really awkward since no one talks. Digger decides to break the silence.

"I'm going to miss you, Donovan and Greyson. Since this is the day before we enter the arena, I wanted to say goodbye. You could've been of more assistance though, Greyson. Thanks anyway."

No one says anything after that. We go to the training center one last time. I decide to train at as many stations as I can, losing track of which ones I go to. I meet with Kitty at archery.

"Are you seriously letting me join you? This seems completely unreal…"

"Of course we are. We need someone to help with the bloodbath and food. That doesn't mean we'll let you survive to the end though." She gives me a sarcastic smile.

* * *

Spira calls us for lunch. I sit down with the careers.

"One thing we're all wondering, Rose, how are you so strong?"

"I used to help my dad carry the wheat sacks. They're not very heavy, but I have to carry them for a long time, so they build muscle."

"Is it really that easy?"

"Easy? No. Simple? Yes. I can see that necklace you're wearing, Kitty. Is that your token?"

"Yeah, it is. My mom gave it to me when I was little. She died giving birth to my sister." Kitty holds on to the necklace and closes are eyes. I feel bad for her.

"I'm so sorry, Kitty."

"Don't be, she was lousy anyway. The one you should be sorry for is Mason, he's an orphan. His aunt adopted him, but still. Oh my gosh, where in the whole of Panem did you get that ring?"

"I found it while working one day. I gave it to my best friend, but she gave it back to me as a token." They all smile at me. They're actual humans with actual emotions. How am I supposed to kill them?

"Can I see it for a minute?"

"Sure…" I give Kitty the ring. She examines it for a while and widens or eyes. She gazes over at me and gives a sincere smile.

"This was made in district one. I recognize the insignia on the inside of the ring. This was manufactured where my mom used to work. She used to work with sapphires, so it's a possibility that she worked on this ring. I wonder why someone would drop such a ring…" A tear falls from Kitty's face. I think that she's being reminded of her mom.

"We all miss home, Kitty, our friends, family, pets, everything. One of us is going to come out alive and it will likely be you. It could be any one of us, but most likely you." My stomach drops. I'm still planning on killing her no matter how much sympathy I have for her. Am I becoming a monster? No, I won't let the game get to me. I'm only killing the careers to give everyone else a fair chance.

"I hope not. There's nothing for me to go home to. The rest of you have something or someone. I have nothing." All I want to do is hold her and tell her everything will be alright. I want to tell her someone will be hoping she goes home alive. I'd always thought the careers were vicious monsters who cared nothing about anyone. I thought they had amazing lives and lived in luxury, but it seems that they deal with the same problems the rest of us do. Well, except for the starving to death thing.

For the rest of lunch we just talk about our home lives some more. I finally learn everyone's names. The girl from two is Mallory, the boy from four is Hook, and the girl from four is Annette. Mallory, Hook, and Annette are pretty quiet.

"Hey, what are all of your angles?"

"We've decided that mine is going to be intelligent, Crok's is going to be mysterious, Mason's is going to be tough, Mallory's is going to be scary, Hook's is going to be clever, and Annette's is going to be funny. You, Rose?"

"I think mine is going to be ruthless." All of them begin to ponder if it's a good angle.

"Hopefully you can pull it off." Oh, it won't just be pulled off in the interview, sweetheart.

* * *

After lunch we go back to training. I go to the one I hadn't noticed before: bug identification. The instructor tells me about all the dangerous and poisonous ones and tells me how to use them as weapons. There's one that catches my attention. I can't remember its name, but it's a mutation from the capital. If you place it in someone's ear, they'll go deaf temporarily. That information will definitely come in handy at night.

Soon, Spira throws us out. That was my last training session. I can feel my heart beating in my throat. _What if I missed something I would have needed? No, it's fine._

* * *

I go back to the bathroom to meet with my prep team and stylist. Star shows me a drawing of a girl in a long and flowing turquoise dress. It has a train and it's very thin. She has one braid and the braid is full of flowers. She's wearing some bright-white butterfly wings. Her face is caked with makeup, but she looks elegant. She has dimple piercings. I hate dimple piercings. "That's what you're going to look like for the interview. You're supposed to look like a fairy. Don't worry, the dimple piercings aren't real and the wings will have red splotches on them. Now let's get you ready!"

It takes forever for them to get me into my outfit, but when they finish, I look absolutely amazing. She made my eyes look bigger and used blue eye shadow. My lips are a glossy blue. The blush is a bluish color. All of the flowers in my hair are blue. The dimple piercings are shaped like skulls. They're probably the only things on my face that aren't blue. The dress has a slit where my legs are exposed. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but Star tells me that it looks spectacular.

Tape takes a needle and injects something into my shoulder blades. It doesn't hurt, but I have no idea what he's doing. I'm looking in the mirror and slowly some white wings begin to sprout. It's somewhat painful, but the back of the dress has the back exposed. It keeps the wings from getting stuck I guess. They finally grow into the size of the door of a house.

"Um, Star? Are these permanent? They're sorta heavy."

"They're not permanent, silly. However, if you want them to be permanent after the games I'd be glad to design some new ones like these for you to have. Try moving the wings, darling." I can move these wings with ease. This is so weird.

Box pulls out some bags labeled "Blood". "Don't worry, baby. It's not human blood." Now I'm worried.

The blood is carefully painted onto my wings into intricate designs. They flow, but they trail off into soft swirls. Well, this is obviously not real blood because it would have dried up by now.

"Now it's time for your shoes. You'll be wearing open toe platform heels. They'll be white and red like your wings. Hammer, get the shoes please." He puts them on me. How the hell am I supposed to walk in these? I look like Donovan right now…

"Oh dear, the interviews are about to start. I'll get Greyson. Head down to the elevator with Digger. Greyson will meet you there. I'll make sure he moves his lazy ass."

I'm starting to get the hang of walking in these. It's still impossibly difficult though. Digger is in a similar costume as I, except there are no flowers in his hair, he's not wearing a dress, and he doesn't have dimple piercings. He looks fierce with that makeup and those heels. He is absolutely fierce.

"I'm so rocking this bitch!"

"You so are! It looks like they gave you wings too. And they dyed your hair blue…"

"They did that upon my request. Now come on, Rosie. Let's do this." He smiles at me. I have to get over him soon. He better win if I don't. He's too fabulous not to.

* * *

Greyson takes us to where we'll be having our interviews. Most of the other tributes look average. Most of the girls are in a simple dress and the boys in a simple suit. The twins have matching costumes. They look pretty amazing. Even though they're wearing just a shirt and flowy pants, they look great. Maybe it's the simplicity of their costumes that makes them look great. Or maybe it's how fantastic their makeup looks. Or maybe it's their hair. Oh whatever, they just look great. Kitty and Crok are the last to come in. Kitty is dressed up to look like a cat. Crok is dressed up to look like a, well, a crocodile. Kitty looks great, but Crok looks so stupid.

One at a time, the tributes disappear. The careers played their angles well. The twins both have the same angle. They're reserved. They get the loudest applause so far once they're done. Within no time the only ones of us left are the girl from ten, Digger and I, and twelve.

"Break a leg out there, ten."

"Thanks." She leaves, but she's obviously nervous.

"The capital is already in love with you two from the parade, and now you look even better. You, the careers, and the twins are their favorites. Please help us like you promised, Rose."

"I will."

"Well, I guess it's my turn." Digger walks out with a confidence I've never seen in any other person. When he walks out, the audience goes insane. He's definitely beat the twins.

"Why, hello there Digger English."

"Hello there Mr. Flickerman." Digger said that so seductively. Everyone laughs.

"How has the capital treated you lately?"

"It's nice here. So much luxury and, ahem, cute guys." He winks at someone in the audience. The crowd is falling in love with him.

"Haha. So is there anyone special back home?"

"Of course there is. I miss him so much. I'm going to try to win this for him." The audience sighs.

"Would you like to tell us his name?"

"His name is Nathan. Odd name for a kid from eleven, I know." I honestly have no idea why everyone is laughing, but I guess it was funny.

"Well that is very sweet. Our time is almost up. Tell us, how do you plan on winning this?"

"No matter how fierce I am, I'm great at hiding. I'll hide it out for as long as I can and hope for the best."

"Well, our time is up. Come on out, Rose Thornberry." When I walk out, I get even more applause from the audience. I remember my angle, so I make sure they can see the blood on my wings. I flutter them and sit down.

"Oh my goodness, Rose, that is by far one of the best outfits I have ever seen. You could definitely blend in with us capital folk."

"As long as I didn't kill all of you first." I say it with a smile on my face. Everyone laughs, but I'm hoping my angle is obvious.

"Oh please tell me you're joking." Caesar said that with a bit of a serious tone, but I can tell it's a rhetorical question.

"Of course I am."

"Do you have anyone special back home? You are definitely the prettiest girl in your district. You're prettier than most of the girls here in the capital."

"I try." I flip my braid. Everyone starts to laugh really hard. "But no, all the boys are afraid of me. I'm like a spider; I'd bite their heads off and fee them to our children." Again, there's more laughter. I don't see how this is funny, but this is going great.

"You'll find someone if and when you make it back. Who else agrees?" The audience screams at the top of their lungs. I'm trying so hard not to blush. "So tell us, Rosie, how do you plan on winning?"

"The careers have allowed me to join them. I'm going to kill as many people as I can before I die." Everyone is clapping and cheering. I really hope I only kill the careers.

"Would you like to show us your wings move again?" I flutter my wings as hard as I can. My heart skips a beat because I float for a second. I swear, I'm going to go deaf if they don't shut up. I go to sit with the other tributes.

Twelve's interviews don't go very well. They're extremely nervous and they don't answer every question. They're definitely going to need some help if they want to survive.

* * *

"You two stole all of the sponsors from the other tributes. I'm so proud of you. The odds are in both of your favors. I'm not just saying that. Now remember, find water, find shelter, and kill the careers. Once they're dead, you'll be in charge of the cornucopia, Rose. As long as you've made some allies other than the careers, you'll be safe there. Stay clear of mutations. Last of all, get plenty of rest out there. That's the mistake so many tributes make. They're exhausted and then they're killed. I'm sorry I haven't been of as much help as I'm supposed to be. You'll do great out there whether you win or not." It's okay, Greyson. We'll be fine.

"I'm so proud of you two. You didn't just steal sponsors, you stole the capital. Everyone loves you. They love the twins almost as much. If you've made an alliance with them, you're sure to have a huge advantage out there. And Digger, you acted almost as fierce as me!"


	7. Broken Promises

**I feel like I owe you guys, so I wrote another chapter. The first day in the arena... How exciting :D well I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

"Come on, Rosie. It's almost time to go to the arena." I get out of bed and eat breakfast. It's absolutely silent. No one even looks at each other. This is possibly the most awkward moment of my life.

"Come on, Rosie, it's time to get you ready for the arena." Star simply puts my hair in a braid and gives me some brown pants and a black jacket with a white shirt inside. "This is what all of you will be wearing. Come on, let's get to the hovercraft."

* * *

"Give me your arm. I need to inject your tracker." That's one giant needle. She shoves it in my arm and my arm glows for a second. My God was that painful. Everyone gets a tracker injected. We're dropped off and led into some sort of basement.

"Rose, you better win this for me. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed working with you. You'll do great out there."

She pushes me onto a platform. A clear tube is lowered around me. Star cries and collapses to the floor. All I can think of now is my dad._ I'll win this for you, Star, Donovan, Lily, and Greyson._

As soon as the tube is finished lowering, I'm lifted up into the arena. It's freezing cold, but the jackets must have some way to trap our body heat inside. I look around. There's snow everywhere, but I can see a drop-off and some forest. _Oh dear sweet Jesus is this a mountain? Yes, I suppose it is._ I look around frantically for Digger. He nods at the swords nearest the cornucopia. He mouths the word _go._ _23. _I look at the careers and then the twins. _12. _I see Ornament aimed at the forest._ 3._ Twelve is smiling at me. _0._

The adrenaline rushes in. I run straight for one of the swords. I grab one and slash the boy from eight's throat. He falls to the floor. Why did I do that? Kitty kills the girl from five, Crok kills the girl from ten, Annette kills the boy from twelve, Mason kills the girl from six, and then Hook kills the boy from five. There is no one else in sight. Everyone else must have run. I promised that twelve would make it out of the bloodbath, and now one of them is dead.

"They're all cowards. We'll go hunting for the twins tomorrow." Six cannons go off. We head inside the cornucopia.

"We'll set up camp here, but first, let's go through everything that's left." There are several packs left and loads of weapons. We go through the packs and grab as much medical equipment as we can first. We find a few water purifiers, some sleeping bags, and lots of iodine. We find so many more things, but I can't even keep track. I take a pack for myself. It's pretty heavy. It contains a sleeping bag, a first-aid kit, salted peanuts, a water purifier, a vial of poison, and a bag of the deafening bugs. I head over to the weapons. I take a bow, tons of throwing knives, and two swords.

"Come on, Rose. Let's go find some food. No meat today, just things like berries and roots." I follow Annette into the forest to get some food.

"Why did we kill them?"

"I really don't know. I stared into his eyes as he died. There was so much pain in them. He tried to run away and I killed him. I spared his partner. She'll probably die within the next few days."

"I promised him he'd make it out of the bloodbath."

"Oh yeah? Well I promised my parents I'd come back, but I know you're planning on killing us." She pulls out an axe and tries to hack me with it, but I snap her neck as quick as I can. A cannon fires. Oh my God how am I going to explain this to the careers. I did see the girl from seven get an axe.

I take Annette's axe and cut off her head just in case someone comes running. I cut part of my face and make it look as if the axe were thrown. I shove it into a tree behind Annette. Pretty soon the other careers come running.

"What the hell happened?"

"The girl from seven tried to kill me, but she missed and killed Annette instead." I'm crying my eyes out. I proceed to vomit everywhere. Kitty crouches down to hug me.

"We'll get back at her. I think we have some cream and bandages for that wound. The odds were obviously not in Annette's favor." Everyone else leaves except for Hook and me. Hook glares at me. He's the only one who know what I've done. They must have talked about me. Obviously it was just between them. He turns around to follow the others. _You're next._

Kitty applies some cream to my face and places a bandage on the wound. "My dad was a medic. He taught me how to do these things." She gives me a pill and tells me to swallow it. Within a few minutes, all of the pain is gone.

"This time we're all going together to get some food. Bring your knives, they're more easily concealed." I take some berries and roots and stuff them in one of the empty backpacks. I look around for fruits. Every other careers leaves to find the berries I taught them were safe, everyone except for Hook.

"I know you killed her. I'm not going to attack you unless you attack me. We both knew what you were planning. I don't know how you'll do it, but remember, I've got my eye on you. I promise not to warn the others as long as you promise not to kill me." _You're first._

"I promise."

* * *

When we get back to the cornucopia, we have eight bags full of fruits, berries and roots. We sit in a circle and eat out of one of the bags. We just eat blackberries.

"Tomorrow morning, we're going after the twins. I want everyone to be fully alert. We'll kill anyone else along the way."

We decide to fiddle around and talk for the rest of the day. It's scary that there are seventeen of us left. Eleven others just hiding, waiting to pounce. I'm probably the only career who's absolutely terrified of the others.

It gets dark. "My watch says it's eight o'clock. I say we go to sleep. Anyone want to volunteer to keep watch?"

Hook and I both raise our hands. "Alright, Hook you'll sleep for six hours while Rose keeps watch. After that, you'll watch. We all know who died, so I don't see the point in staying up." Hook looks at me. He's probably scared of me. _Well good, I hope he's scared._

I wait until everyone is asleep. It's only nine. I go to my pack and take the bag of deafening bugs. I carefully put one in each of the careers' ears. It takes almost five minutes to do it without waking them. I really don't know how the bugs are going to make them deaf, but I hope it works. I get my poison and form a story in case they wake up from the cannons. _Crok just got some nightlock instead of blueberries. Just look at them._ I take a handful of blueberries and put them in his hand. The others don't know the difference between a cat and a dog, so everything will be fine.

I wait anxiously for almost ten minutes. His cannon finally fires. I look at the other careers. They don't budge. The bugs did their thing!

"Hey beautiful! Hey, put that down, it's me, Digger." He scared me half to death. So far I've killed three people and he could have easily been the fourth.

"You idiot, I could have killed you. Tell me, how am I supposed to kill them all? I don't have enough poison to kill them all."

"They're sleeping right by the drop-off. Just push them off. They'll die." I get a strange feeling that something is watching me. It's probably a hidden camera trying to catch the action.

I pick Hook up as carefully as I can. He doesn't wake up, thankfully. I throw him off of the cliff. His cannon fires. I take Mason and do the same. Mallory is next. Finally I look at Kitty. I feel so sorry for her. She's lost so much and now she's going to lose her life. I take her necklace so that I'll always remember her. I pick her up. "I'm so sorry." She opens her eyes the second I let go of her. Hearing her scream was the absolute worst thing I've ever heard. Kitty's cannon goes off. The careers are dead. I've killed them.

I look over at Digger. He has a facial expression that says he's horrified, but at the same time he's impressed. "Go get three and seven. Tomorrow I'll get the girl from twelve."

"What about the boy?"

"Just look at the sky tonight."

At ten the anthem plays. The boy from eight's face is shown first. I killed him. I was the first murderer He was the first to die. Then the girl from five's face is shown. Then it's the girl from ten. The boy from twelve is next. _I'll make sure your partner makes it far._ The girl from six and the boy from five are next. It feels like Annette's face is up there for forever. Then there's Crok, then Hook, then Mason, then Mallory, and finally Kitty. When I see her face I hold her necklace tight.

"You feel guilty don't you."

"Of course I do. I killed seven people. I will never forget Kitty's scream."

"Hold on, I thought you only killed the careers?"

"I killed the boy from eight first. I don't know why I did it, but I did." Digger becomes pale.

"Digger, you'll be safe. You, the twins, Ornament, and the girl from twelve are the only ones I've vowed to myself I won't kill."

"I sure hope that that's true." He punches my arm in a friendly manor.

"We need to sleep. The others won't be hunting us, so we'll be ok."

"How can you be so sure, Digger?"

"I told them that you can be trusted. I talked to all of them. I know for certain that no one else knows you killed the boy from eight. If you had been seen killing him, one of the twins would have killed you. Please don't kill anyone else, Rosie. Let's just not kill each other and wait until we die from natural causes or the game makers."

"I won't kill anyone else. Unless they attack one of the two of us, they'll be fine. Goodnight, Digger."

"Goodnight, Rose."


	8. False Hope

**I REAAAAALLY wanted to write the next chapter. This one is the shortest so far and hopefully it will remain that way. My original goal was for this story to reach at least 40k words, but I'm beginning to wonder if it'll make it that far. I promise you that it will be at least 25k. Well go on then, read the chapter :D**

* * *

The sunlight hits my eyes very strongly. It's freezing cold. For a minute I think I'm back home in eleven, but then I see Digger lying next to me. I remember the seven people I killed. I can't forget their faces. I can't forget that Annette tried to kill me and I broke her neck. I can't forget the face of the boy from eight. I can't forget Hook asking me to promise not to kill him. I will never forget throwing Kitty off the mountain and watching her flailing her arms while she screams. It feels as if her necklace is glowing.

"Rosie, what's wrong?"

"It's just… I don't understand why I killed them. They had slowly become my friends and I killed them. I killed all six of them."

"They would have killed the rest of us."

"What about the boy from eight. He wouldn't have killed anyone. He did nothing to me."

"We're only doing what we have to."

"But I didn't have to kill him. He didn't deserve it." Digger hugs me.

"Forgive yourself. You're giving the rest of us a bigger chance. Right now, you and the twins are the three most likely to win. I know where everyone else will be hiding. I told them to follow me during the bloodbath. All of the survivors met up with me. Come on, let's go get them."

* * *

There's a trail that leads off of the mountain. We walk down that trail and go into the forest. It takes almost thirty minutes of walking, but we end up going to a clearing in the forest. The others are sitting down eating some plants.

"I went to the plant identification station and suggested that a few of the others did the same. About half of us went to that station."

"Do you know what happened to the others? You know the kids from five, the girl from six, the boy from eight, the girl from ten, and my partner?"

"All of them were killed by the careers."

"We know that, but do you know how they died?" I was hoping no one would ask.

"Well, Kitty killed the girl from five; Crok killed the girl from ten; Annette killed your partner; Mason killed the girl from six, and Hook killed the boy from five."

"What happened to my partner?" Crap. Why did she ask that. She looks like she's sixteen, but she's been through so much already.

"I didn't see what happened. I'm really sorry."

"It's ok. As long as he didn't die too painfully, I'm ok."

"I want to make a rule. No one kills each other for the next two days. Obviously someone has to die every day to keep the game makers from killing us. At noon we will all split up. Only one partner allowed per person. I know you're not going to be happy about that. Are you going to pick your own partners or am I going to choose them for you?"

"These rules aren't entirely fair. Why do we only get one partner?"

"If someone dies, we'll know not to trust their partner. They could have killed their partner. Try to keep each other alive for as long as you can. Now pair up!"

Carlisle and his district partner get together. I hope he survives close to the end. The boy from six and the girl from eight pair up. The twins get together. The kids from nine get together. The boy from ten and the twelve girl get together. Digger and I know we're going to be a pair.

We all split up. Digger and I go back to the cornucopia. We sit and talk for a few hours hoping no one comes. No one does. We're all hoping for peace, but eventually it will all end.

In the middle of our conversation about last year's game, a cannon booms. Then there's another, and then another. I honestly thought there would be peace, but apparently not. Now there are only nine of us left. Why did I think there'd be peace?

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, but they probably killed each other." Once again, there's another cannon.

"Let's just wait to see who all died tonight."

We find some solar-powered, portable game systems. Thank God they came up with a cure for boredom. We play a virtual hunger games. It's supposed to last for a week. You create a character and choose the district you're from. We play until almost nine. My character won, but Digger's only made fifth.

"Do you think one of us will win, Digger?"

"Of course I do. You're going to be the one to go home."

"I hope you're the one who goes back."

"I could never live with remembering the faces of the dead. I'm too weak for that, but you could go back and you'd be fine."

We get ready to go to sleep. I get into my sleeping bag, and Digger takes one of the ones Mallory took.

"She was the only one of them who didn't deserve to die. She killed no one, but I killed seven people."

The anthem plays. We both look up in the sky. The first face to show up is Carlisle's. He was so young. Then his partner's face is shown. District one, two, three, four, and five won't have victors. Then there's the boy from six and the boy from ten. Only eight of us are still here. Just one third of us have survived the first two days. That means that they'll be interviewing our family and friends.


	9. The Interviews

**I felt like this chapter would be appropriate. It's not a dream and it's not from Rose's perspective, but from an omnipotent one. Or is it omnicious? Whatever XD. I included the rest of the names of these tributes. By the way, no one is going to die for the next like two days :D yeah everyone was dying too fast. omg I need to stop. Well review please :D hope you like it**

* * *

"We're here with the friends and family of the twins from district seven. Now, we're only two days in, and already sixteen kids have died. How do you feel about your kids making it this far?"

"First off, I'm their father. I'm somewhat proud, but I'm also upset that my daughter killed four people." The audience sighs.

"I can't believe she'd do something like that. Trust me, a mother knows best." The microphone is passed to the three kids, but none of them wants to say anything.

"I'm sure she just wants to get home. Now, I want to know what you think about the small alliance that is forming between your kids, Ornament, and eleven."

"I don't trust Rose. She obviously only cares about herself and Digger. Just look at what she did. The careers had their full trust in her and she killed them all."

"You're one of the twins' friends right? Jack right? Anyway, it seems to me she only killed them to give the others a chance. If she wanted to, she could have killed all the kids in the clearing."

"Are you suggesting that she's better than the rest of them?"

"No, I'm saying she's smarter. She still had the throwing knives, and from what I hear, she's one of the best knife-throwers the game makers have ever seen. However, your kids have just as much chance of winning as the others. Besides, she's less remorseful of her killings."

"I'd rather neither of them come home than just one of them. They're my best friends."

"So you don't want either of them to live?"

"I want both of them to, but I know that would never be allowed. I want Digger to win." The others nod in agreement.

"Our time is up. I hope you're going to be satisfied with the results. Now it's time to talk to the family of the girl from eight, Threader."

Threader's mother walks on stage with three tiny children by her side.

"We welcome you all warmly." Caesar smiles. The audience claps.

"Tell me, what is she like back home?"

The mom chokes up. "She's the one who takes care of the kids. She took tesserae. I wish I'd stopped her."

"Don't worry, she's smart. She's made it this far. She could very well win."

"Not with the kids from seven and eleven around."

"I'm pretty sure Rose and Callie are through with killing for now. Your daughter will be fine. Now you littluns, how is your big sister to you?"

The youngest of the three speaks, but she can't pronounce her rs. "Well, she's vewy nice. She bwings us food and she doesn't let us stawve." The girl begins to cry. The audience sighs.

The oldest one decides to speak next. "She's nice I guess. She always helps us with things and keeps us out of trouble. I'll spit on her grave if she dies." Chatter breaks out amongst the audience.

There is an awkward silence before the middle child speaks. "She's my mom."

Everyone breaks out into tears. Even Caesar can't contain himself. He looks at the actual mother of the children, "I wish there was something I could do." The mother looks at the floor.

"I believe our time is up. Let's talk to the family and friends of our youngest tribute, Ornament!" The audience applauds.

A husband and wife with bright red hair walk out. Trailing behind them are three girls who all look about the same age.

"Your daughter has made it surprisingly far. It seems she's made an alliance with the most powerful contenders: district seven and eleven. She could very well win."

"I don't know. The others are so much more powerful."

"All the more reason she could win. They'll underestimate her." The people in the audience nod.

One of the three girls takes the microphone, "She can't win any game, let alone the Hunger Games. She couldn't win in any dimension or alternate timeline." She kicks the floor and sobs.

"She could prove you wrong."

Another one of the girls says something, "Unless she kills someone, she won't win. She wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Tributes have been known to lose their innocence in the arena. Oh, it looks like our time is up. Ok, we'll be right back after the ten minute intermission!" Caesar walks backstage.

He collapses to the ground and cries. "I can't do this anymore! Seven of those kids are going to die, and I'm giving their dear ones false hope."

President Snow walks up to him. "You're pathetic. You can't have sympathy for them. They betrayed us. Stand up and act like a man."

Caesar wipes off his tears and goes to talk to Rose's parents.

"I know our interview hasn't started but if anything I'm betting on Rose."

A bell rings. Caesar goes back onstage with a capital smile. "Welcome back! We were going to talk to the family and friends of Chris, but they refused to join us. Please welcome the family and friends of Rose!" There is a roar of cheer and applause. "Now tell me, are you surprised she's made it thus far?"

"I'm her best friend. I'm not surprised at all, but I'm shocked that she's killed seven people."

"That was genius was it not? The way she used the spiderslugs to make the careers deaf so she could kill them."

Her mother looks up with a ponderous expression, "How did that work exactly?"

"Spiderslugs are mutations from the capital. They enhance the DNA to make them create better webs. When she placed the bugs in their ears, they spun webs very quickly while leaving slime behind. The combination of slime and web causes sound to have a harder time traveling to the ear drum. What a genius Rose is to have used the bugs to deafen the careers!" There is a round of applause.

"We were never taught any of that in school."

"That's what the training is for! How do you feel about Rose killing the boy from eight?"

"I'm slightly disappointed in her as a father, but I understand that she's only doing what she's doing as a way to end things."

"Honestly I think your daughter has one of the biggest chances of winning. She's smart, strong, and fast."

"She is."

"According to what I've read, you've been at another one of these interviews correct? I believe it was for your best friend Plower?"

"Yes, I was here. Hopefully this is the last time I'll come."

"I'm assuming you're not too happy about your daughter being here."

"Not even if she wins will I be happy. She'll remember the faces of those she killed forever. That will be more agonizing than the games." The audience stirs uncomfortably.

"Did you give Rose that ring, Lily?"

"Actually no, she gave it to me when we were little, but I gave it back."

"That's sweet. Oh, our time is up. Let's welcome Digger English's parents, brother, and boyfriend!" Astonishingly there is more applause and cheering for Digger than for Rose. "Your name is Nathan right? Tell us, how does he treat you?"

Nathan's eyes tear up and he can barely talk, "He's the best boyfriend anyone could ask for. He's sweet and kind and funny. He's such a flirt." Nathan giggles a little and everyone laughs.

"You, big guy, you two look a lot alike. Are you twins?"

"Actually I'm a year older than him."

"How is he back home?"

"Well, he's very helpful. He helps a lot at the sweet shop. He's very charismatic, and he flirts with everyone who walks in. He's hilarious," he starts to cry very hard, "but if he doesn't come him I'm going to kill him."

"Don't worry; he has just as much chance as anyone of winning. He's the cleverest one out there. Mom and Dad, how do you feel about the strong alliance between him and Rose?"

"We definitely think it will help him get far, but his only chance of winning is if Rose and or Callie die."

"He might could win with them still alive. Now for our final tribute, we will be speaking with the parents of Margaret Tile!" There is some applause, but not much.

"Miss Tile, are you surprised she's made it this far?"

"Oh, definitely. She's great at hiding from work, maybe she can hide her way to victory!" There is a roar of laughter.

"I think we all know that Rose hasn't formed an alliance with her, but it seems she has no interest in killing her."

"Rose may not want to, but Callie might. She killed four of her allies. She can't be trusted."

"Maybe not, but your daughter could surprise us. Let's all give a round of applause to everyone who came out to the interviews. It's time to head back to your hovercrafts. Goodnight everyone!"


	10. Bear Meat

**Again, this is another short chapter. I hope you guys are starting to like Threader :D I'm trying to base her off of one of my best friends. Well ok review please? :D**

* * *

"Digger, wake up. I think I heard something." I hear the sound of crunching snow.

"I hear it too." Digger hides behind me. I pick up some of my throwing knives. Neither of us can see what or who is approaching us, but we can hear them.

"Wait, please don't hurt me." A very miserable looking girl approaches us. "I'm Threader, the girl from eight. None of the others trust you, but I have no one left to turn to. Please! Don't let me die here!"

"Rose! Put the knife down!" At first I'm hesitant, but I look at her leg. She's broken it, and it's bleeding. She may have gotten a very low score, but she's used some cloth to wrap herself with and she's using a stick to walk around with.

"I'm sorry. I've gone a bit since we've started these games. Where did you get the cloth?" Threader points to a rip in her shirt. "You could freeze to death, you know. We'll get you a sleeping bag. You can shape into some sort of jacket or clothing."

She takes some of the sleeping bags and rips them up. At first I'm furious, but I realize what she's doing. She takes the loose thread out of some of the pieces of sleeping bag. "Can you see if you can find me a needle?"

"Sure." I look through a lot of bags and piles, but I can't find the needle. _Stupid me! There'd be some in the first-aid!_ I get one of the kits and take a needle. "How did you break your leg?"

"Hand me the needle? Thanks. You know Callie? Well, she attacked district three. We didn't realize how close we were to them. We could hear the girl screaming after the first cannon blasted. We started to run. I tripped over a tree root that sprouted out of nowhere. The boy from six decided to cover me with snow. I kept telling him to run, but he just kept covering me. I heard the second cannon. I could feel him running now, but I could hear Callie closing in on him. She jumped over me. That's when I heard the third cannon. I started crying as silently as I could. Callie got closer and closer to me. She started walking slower as she got closer. She jumped right on my injured leg. Obviously she did this on purpose. The pain was unbearable, but I knew if I moved I would die. I stopped breathing and didn't move an inch. I didn't think my silence would work, but Callie ran off. That's when I heard the fourth and final cannon. I slept there. I was alone."

"What made you think you could trust me?"

"I can sense goodness in you. I know you killed them, but I can tell that you're extremely remorseful. That's why you stole her necklace. You stole it not as a trophy, but as a way of remembering and honoring her." I guess she's right. Am I really that remorseful?

I sit down in front of her as she fashions some clothing. She looks at me and then Digger and keeps working. I want to leave with Digger to go do something, but she'd be easy prey. I can't let her die. After about an hour of watching her, she finishes. She hands me a ridiculously thick shirt, some gloves, and pants. She hands over the same things to Digger and takes some for herself.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"Well, I am from district eight. I have to make money somehow to take care of my siblings."

"Shouldn't your parents take care of them?"

"My dad is dead, and my mom is never home. They'd starve without me." I feel sick to my stomach. Every one of us has someone waiting or depending on us back home and we're killing each other.

"I hope you can get back to eight so you can take care of them."

"So do I."

"Rose, Threader, let's talk for a while. We have nothing better to do anyway."

"Yeah ok."

We talk for a few hours about things that don't really matter. I talked about school work I'm going to have to make up once I go back, Digger talks about the process of candy making, and Threader mostly listens. She doesn't complain about anything, but instead asks us what she can do to help us.

"You can't do anything. Look at your leg! We are going to take care of you."

"Please don't. I need a purpose for my last few days. I don't want to die knowing that someone was taking care of me instead of me taking care of them."

We hear some chimes. I turn around and a parachute is floating down.

_It's for her leg. Shove the needle between the break. It'll be healed in no time.-_

_ G_

"Give me your leg, Threader." Threader closes her eyes, but she lets me shove the needle into her leg. He wasn't kidding. I had to pull out the needle pretty quickly since the bone almost encompassed it. I look at Threader. She's passed out.

"Let's get her into the cornucopia, Rose." We drag her limp body into the cornucopia.

"We're almost out of food. Come on, let's go hunting. Don't worry, I know how to hunt." Digger follows me.

"How exactly did you learn how to hunt?"

"Sometimes animals start eating our crops. We have to kill them to keep from getting into trouble with the capital. We can only have a small amount of our crops, and whatever is lost comes out of our food."

We go into the forest. I take some of our leftover food and set it on in an open location. We wait for hours until we hear something approaching. I ready my bow, but instead of an animal, the girl from twelve walks up and takes the food. She's such a stupid girl. That was a trap and she could have died. Luckily she left some food behind. After about ten minutes of waiting, a bear takes some of the food.

"Whoa, are you going to try to kill that bear?"

"It's going to be a lot of food." I take my arrow and shoot it. It doesn't die, so I keep taking more and more arrows until it finally falls dead. We cut the bear up and take it one piece at a time back to the cornucopia.

"My leg feels much better now. I set up a fire for us. I assumed you'd be out hunting."

"Thanks Threader." We take the meat and hang it over the fire. We eat a lot of it, but there is still a lot of it left. We could only finish off the arm.

"The meat is going to go bad. Throw it back into the woods. Some other animals will eat it."

We prepare ourselves to go to sleep. Pretty soon some more tributes will die, so I decide to take first watch and then Digger. The anthem plays, but there are no more sad faces. I watch the stars as the others sleep. I see a flicker of light.

"Rose? Is that you?"

"Who is it? What are you doing?"

"It's me, Callie." I feel gross inside. I want to kill her, but I can't.

"What do you want?"

"Just know that I'm going to kill you. Not now, but I'll kill you soon. My brother needs to get home. Goodbye, Rose Thornberry."


	11. The 17th Cannon

**Sorry for lying about no one dying for three chapters XD I don't think I'll be writing on a normal schedule. I'll be writing whenever I have time. So yeah... I guess you like it XD**

* * *

I wake up to the smell of freshly cooked meat. I sit up and look over at Digger and Threader. They're eating some sort of bird.

"Did you go hunting without me?"

"You were asleep. We needed to eat something."

"We probably need to drink something too. I'll be back, girls."

"Don't forget the water purifiers and bottles!" Digger walks off with everything needed.

"I hope he finds a water source. Threader, I hope you get home."

"So do I. The only reason I want to go home is to take care of my siblings."

"What are their names?"

"First is Spool. He's pretty feisty. Then there's Cecelia. That name runs in our family. Her daughter's name will probably be Cecelia too. Then there's Pinky. She's pretty sweet. If I don't get home they'll starve." I look at the floor. How have I been so selfish? I have no one to get home to other than Lily and my parents. If I don't win, I want Digger or Threader to win.

I hear a cannon. My heart stops. That ass better not have died. I want to go look for Digger, but if I leave Callie will come after Threader. I wait in the hopes that he comes back.

"Threader? Rose? Thank God you're all right. I thought it was one of you!"

I run up to hug him. Never have I been more worried about someone in my life. I cry for a long time.

"I wonder who it was."

"We'll just have to wait and see. From now on we stick together. I won't let you die."

"I really think we need to find some more water. Threader, take the water purifiers. Digger, take the bottles and buckets. I'll take my knives to protect us."

We walk through the snow and off the mountain. I watch Digger and Threader talk as if they were friends. I wish the three of us could leave together. Nothing would bring me more joy.

We get to a small creek. Digger attempts to take a sip right from it, but I stop him. "Let's give some to an animal first to see if it's safe."

We go back to the cornucopia to get some rope so that we can set a trap. We go back towards the creek and set some food in the trap. We wait for a short period of time. A squirrel falls in the trap and we take it.

"How are we going to get it to drink the water?"

We hear a familiar sounding chime. Threader turns around and takes it.

_ I can't let you thirst to death with those kids depending on you. - Artemis_

"Is she your mentor?"

"Yes, she is."

Threader opens the parachute to find a scanner. An instruction manual comes with it. We follow the instructions and dip the needle in the creek. After a few seconds a synthesized voice speaks to us, "Matter type: liquid. Toxins: affirmative. Water purifier compatibility: affirmative. Nightlock poison detected."

"Well that was interesting. Come on, get some and put it through the filters."

We take as much water as possible and let it flow through the filters and into our bottles.

"I'm so thirsty. Threader, you should take the first sip."

"No, Digger should have the first sip."

"I know you two are being nice, but I think we should force some into the squirrel."

We give some to the squirrel. I know that nightlock is poisonous to all mammals and it kills within five minutes, so we can trust the results. We wait for ten minutes to see if the squirrel dies. It doesn't. We haven't had a sip of water for days. The water feels so good and cold down my throat. The water tastes like the elixir of life.

"Don't drink too much or you'll get sick." We listen to Threader. We decide to head back to camp.

"Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

"It smells like something's burning." We pause to stare at each other then run. We get back to the cornucopia. Everything has been set on fire. Without thinking I scream at the top of my lungs. We go through everything to see what we can save. We salvage a sleeping bag, some weapons, a few backpacks, and a first-aid kit.

"Don't worry, Rose. One of us will get home."

"Threader, shut up. You've been nothing but a pest since you decided you'd join us."

"Rose, if she goes so do I. She's the one who made us these clothes to help us survive, her parachute helped us know that we could drink the water, she cooked that bird for us, and she doesn't complain." I feel awful. How could I have not seen how much help she is.

"I'm sorry, Threader."

"I forgive you. I believe I saw a cave near the creek. Take everything you can. We can survive this."

We take everything down to the cave. We take several breaks for water. Gosh, I never thought I'd appreciate water so much.

"Rose, do you think the three of us will make it to the end?"

"To be honest, I hope not. The game makers would force us into killing each other."

"I wouldn't kill either of you. I wouldn't kill anyone."

We hear a sudden scream. "Quickly, blow out the fire!"

We watch outside and wait for a cannon. We hear nothing. I can feel the familiar feeling of adrenaline flowing through my veins. It reminds me of killing all those other kids. The boy from eight and Mallory didn't deserve to die. They were innocent. They'd killed no one.

We all jump at the sound of thunder. It starts to rain. "I'll go outside to see who or what is out there."

I walk out to investigate. I hear heavy breathing nearby. "R... R… Ro… Rose, please help me." I can't tell who it is. She has blood all over her face, but I remember her voice.

"Margaret? Is that you? What happened?"

"Callie shot my arm. I can run a lot faster than her. I ran as fast as I could. That was earlier today, but I screamed because I'd just felt the pain. That's when I tripped and landed on this rock causing me to pass out."

"Come on."

I take her back to the cave. Threader and Digger come as soon as they see her. They help me get her into the spare sleeping bag.

"Threader, see if you can find anything in the first-aid kit to help her."

"I found some of that medical cream the capital always has. It'll take at least twelve hours, but it will help her arm to heal and it will keep it from scarring. I've had to use this before on my little brother. It's really expensive, so if there's any left then keep it." Threader rubs the cream onto Margaret's arm and face. It seems as if it burns because Margaret won't stop screaming. Margaret goes to sleep.

The anthem plays and I look up at the sky. The boy from nine shows up on the screen. Ornament is the only one alone now. I hope she'll be ok.

"Rose, let Digger sleep. I'll take first watch."

I get into my sleeping bag. I glance over at Threader and for a moment I think she's Lily. They sit and breathe the same way. They're kind in the same way. They even look alike. They both have olive skin and dark black hair. They have brown eyes and they're both really tall and pretty. I'm glad I'm here and Lily isn't. That would have been so much worse than this.

"Threader, what did you do to get such a low score?"

"I threw a spear. I missed on purpose so that I wouldn't get a high score, but it backfired. What did you do to get such a high score?"

"I can't even remember. I think I threw a weight, threw some knives, ran, and climbed."

"That's a lot. Rose, you need to sleep. Goodnight."


	12. The Top Three

**Just to let you know, I think I might have four different endings. I wrote this at school, so it might be a little choppy. Sorry if you don't like it XD well enjoy I guess XD**

Waking up to the sound of two cannons sends terror through every part of my body. I immediately check to see if the others around me are still alive. _Thank God, they're breathing. _To be honest, I was hoping that Margaret had succumbed to her wounds.

"Guys, wake up. It's almost over. This might be the end."

We all get up and get ready. Margaret is the only one without the great clothing Threader made for us. She looks at me as if she was asking permission to use a sleeping bag to make her some, but I shake my head. I get my throwing knives to prepare myself for any attacks from whoever is left.

"We're splitting up. Margaret, why don't you leave first?"

"I will. Bye guys! Good luck!" She walks away with confidence. She really isn't the smartest girl.

The others get ready to leave, but I stop them. "What are you doing?"

"We're splitting up like you said."

"I did that to get rid of Margaret. We can't have her with us. She's stupid."

"Rose, how could you do that?"

"One of us needs to win, Threader. This game has gone on for way too long. Let's go on our last hunt."

We get our things together. I can see Threader's sadness settle in. I shouldn't have made Margaret leave. She must have been like a child to her. Suddenly I feel numb. I'm now part of the top four. Who just died? We run outside to look for Margaret. Sure enough, she picked up some food from a trap that Callie probably set. Her body has been cut in half. Callie must have placed the food on top of the rope that swung the axe across. At first I feel like throwing up, but then I feel a strong urge to kill. Seeing her blood everywhere is pleasant for me. Looking at the pain in her eyes sends chills down my spine. She was so stupid.

My heart gallops in my chest. I can't contain this urge to kill. I've kept it under control since the first day, but all I want to do is kill. I think I just want to see blood. "Let's go back in the cave and sit for a while, guys." We walk back in to discuss our plans, but the ground beneath me shakes. Strangely there is no avalanche above us, but I'm terrified. The cave starts to fall apart.

"Rose, when you get back, tell Nathan he's ratchet."

"I'll tell him you love him." Digger gives me that cocky smile of his. I've pretty much ignored him for the majority of our time here, but I really can't give him up.

The roof of the cave starts to fall. I look at Digger; a tear trickles down his face. He pushes me out of the way of the rocks falling. I get really cold. _Get up, Digger. Come on get up! You can't be dead. Please get up. Digger I can't lose you!_ I wait for his cannon to sound, but it never does. _Thank God!_ He might have some broken bones, but he's fine. I pull him out of the rubble. Again, my heart sinks. Threader has been separated from us. We're trapped here in the cave and she's out there alone with Callie.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I couldn't save her too. We need to get out of here. It's dark, but there is bound to be a way out." We look around and find some tunnels. In a real cave, this would be pitch black, but here the walls have a very faint glow. It feels like we've been walking through these tunnels for hours. Oh no, Digger doesn't have his sleeping bag clothes. He's shivering.

"Here, wear it. I need you to get home, Digger." Digger refuses the clothing. Damn him. He's dying in here. I turn around to look. The light is slowly getting brighter, but it's getting really warm. Oh my God, it's fire. "Digger, hurry up and run!" The fire travels slowly, but it's hot. At least it's keeping Digger warm.

"Rose, you're going to have to throw your clothes in there. We both are. We'll die of heat if we don't."

"But if we do, we'll freeze to death." He takes his clothes off and throws them into the fire. _No!_ He looks at me and smiles. He turns around and walks closer to the fire. I grab him by the arm and pull him away. I will _not_ let him die. He kisses me. At first I'm shocked, but then I realize why he did it. He's saying goodbye and he purposely shocked me to kill himself. It's all happening as if in slow motion.

"Tell him he's ratchet. Tell him that kiss was for both of you. Win for me, Rose."

"You're not killing yourself, Digger!"

"No, I'm not. They'll count it as your kill."

"What?" He pulls out one of my throwing knives and places it in my hand. He makes me stab him. _Digger no!_

"Run, Rose. Run for your life." Watching the fire consume him sends me berserk. I wish we'd talked more. I wish I could have saved him. This is my fault. I run faster than I'd ever run before. He was right, I feel like I'm going to die from this heat. I throw my clothes at the fire. It doesn't stop coming. I can run faster now that I'm naked.

I can finally see the light. I run out of the cave and move to the side. I start crying. I've lost everything. _I have to win. I have to win for Mom, Dad, Lily, and now Digger._ That was the 21st cannon. I'm now part of the top three.

After a few hours of sitting there naked, I realize that I'm not cold. There's snow everywhere, but I'm warm. My weapons stayed in those tunnels and died with Digger. There is literally no way I can win. Callie is going to win this for sure. I hear the chimes again. I grab the parachute and open it.

_We're all deeply sorry for your loss. Here is a blanket, some food, a knife, and Digger's token._

_-G and D_

I wrap the blanket around myself. Surprisingly, the day still isn't over. They'll never find me. Threader will never find me. I have a chance of winning again, and my other ally is going to die without me. She said she's good with a spear, but I know she doesn't have the heart to kill anyone. Callie could be anywhere, but I know she's gotten weaker.

A few hours of sitting passes by, and the anthem plays. The four faces show up. Tomorrow, I'll win.

* * *

**Goodbye, sweet Digger :c**


	13. Rose's Ending

**I haven't written in forever, but yeah this is Rose's ending. Review please? XD thanks**

* * *

I only slept for three hours. It's bitter cold, and I don't know how much longer I can survive this. The blanket isn't enough. I decide it's time to start moving so that I don't freeze to death. I'm shivering furiously. There is no way I can win now.

"Look at you. I'm sure everyone thought that you were going to win, but we can't have that now can we? I'm going home, not you."

I break down into tears. The tears freeze as they drip down my face. I prepare to die, but Callie spits up blood. She falls in the snow, and standing behind her is Threader. She's become a victim to the game.

"I'm sorry, but I had to save you. Come on, Rose, we need to keep moving. I made you some clothes. Take them. Callie isn't totally dead." She's right, her cannon didn't go off.

"Come on, Threader. We need to run."

As we run away, I notice that it's snowing. It would be beautiful if we weren't fighting for our lives.

"How did you survive, Threader?"

"When we were separated, I ran as fast as I could. I kept screaming out your names, but you couldn't hear me. I'm decent at climbing, so I climbed up one of the trees to hide. Callie came looking for me, but she couldn't find me. She almost found me a while ago, but she saw you and couldn't help herself. I took a stick and stabbed her through her back to her belly. What about you?"

"Digger and I found a tunnel. We went through hoping we would find a way out, but the gamemakers must have started a fire to follow us through the tunnel. Digger ended up burning to death and I threw my clothes in the fire to keep from overheating."

For a few hours we walk in peace talking about home again. I ended up learning that the whole time I've been calling Donovan my district representative, but he's actually called an escort. We both agreed that the parades should be on the day the tributes arrived at the capital. We also agreed that when one of us goes on the victory tour, we'll visit each other's family.

It feels like we've been walking aimlessly for hours when Callie's cannon fires.

"Rose, we need to split up. We'll let the environment or the gamemakers kill us." I know that Threader is in a much better position to win than I am. I have to get home. As Threader turns around, I kick her down. She screams, but I jump on her and keep punching. She begs for her life, but I have to get home. I literally poke her eye out, and then shove it down her throat. She's still kicking and screaming, but I keep punching her. I bite her flesh out. She's _still_ alive.

"Rose, why are you doing this?"

"I have to get home. I'm sorry."

"No you're not. Now my siblings are going to starve." How could I forget? Threader starts to spas, and then she stops. It takes about two minutes for her cannon to go off. In the distance I see a hovercraft approaching. It drops a ladder down to me. I start to climb it, but I'm frozen by some sort of electrical shock. I can't move, but I'm pulled up. They put me in a room and tie me down. I can't stop screaming. I look through the glass door and watch as they pull Threader's body up. It looks like they repair her body, and then they put her in a wooden box. They inject me with something and I pass out.

When I wake up, I'm being cleaned up by my prep team. They start to complain about how damaged my hair is and how dry my skin is. I'm sorry, but I didn't have lotion out there and it was cold. I glare at them and they return nervous smiles.

"Don't worry, we have some spray that'll fix everything."

They spray my hair. In a matter of seconds my hair grows out to an extremely long length and the split ends are gone. They start to cut my hair, but it's still longer than when I came in. They straighten my hair, and give me a fringe. My hair is tied into a bun, and my makeup is done. My face is shining with glitter. All of my facial features have been sharpened. I look like a goddess.

"Come on, honey. We have to finish your eyes."

They apply tons more makeup to my eyes. I look back in the mirror again. My eyelashes are jet black and as long as pencils. There are tiny diamonds in them. My eye shadow is turquoise. I've grown to hate that color. It brings back so much pain.

I meet with Star. She puts on a very slim dress that exposes my back and my belly. Again, it's turquoise. In the front, the dress ends at my thighs, but in the back, there's a long frilly train. I'm wearing bright white stilettos. It takes all of my energy not to cry.

"Come on dear, it's time for your interview. Here, I made you a crown." The crown is platinum and coated with snowflake shaped diamonds. There are three trails of diamonds. Two go down my temples, and the other goes down to my nose. I look like a queen. I am not worthy of any such title. I killed my allies; all of them except for Digger. I let him die.

"You're gorgeous. You're definitely the prettiest one I've ever worked with. I know you've been through a lot, but you won. You can't take that back. Pretend you're ruthless, just like you said before. You'll be one of the most famous victors, and Snow won't mess with you or your family. Now go. Don't smile, walk out with confidence, and hold your head high."

I do just as star said. As I walk onto the stage, I'm deafened by the roar of the people. I know they're happy that I won, but to me those roars represent the voices of the ones I caused pain to. How could I kill those kids?

"Come sit with me, Rosie. That was an amazing win. Let's watch the recap."

A big screen is shown on the side wall. It starts with my reaping. Then it shows the parade and what I said at the interview. I watch how it looked when I killed my victims. I looked ruthless. When it showed Digger die, it didn't show my screams or the kiss. It showed Threader stab Callie, and it showed me kill Threader. It showed every last second of her death; all the blood and pain and the screams. Every one cheers when Threader dies. I want to cry, but it would ruin my makeup and make me seem weak. I hold my head even higher and clap.

"I have to be honest with you, Rose; your victory was one of the best we've ever experienced. You are also the victor with the highest kill rate. You killed every last career, and all of your allies. That was amazing. As of right now, you are everyone's favorite victor. We must give you a nickname. What do you all think? Let me think… The Traitor! No, no no no, The Ice Queen!" Everyone cheers.

"It was fun, and I had to get home."

"Thank you so much for coming, Rose. We hope you have a safe trip home."

I walk off the stage. I'm escorted back to the hovercraft and taken home.

"I think you've taken me to the wrong place."

"This is your new home. Don't you remember? When you win, you're given endless riches and you get to live in the victor's village."

How could I forget? I get out of the hovercraft and walk into my new home. Everything from the tree house has already been moved over.

"Mom? Dad? Lily? Are any of you home?"

"No, but I came here to say hello. Hello Rose, I'm President Snow. You've proven to be a fantastic fighter and a ruthless killer. Congratulations on your victory. You're my favorite. I have some business to attend to. Goodbye, Rosie." He leaves a rose on my kitchen table.

I sit down for a few hours and wait for them to come home. They run through the door and we all start to sob. My mom covers her mouth and gives me the tightest hug ever. My dad kisses me over and over.

I run to my new room and I cry. I cry for hours. I feel like I've destroyed the lives of so many people. I'm just a fifteen year old girl, yet I've caused so much misery and pain. At least I'm home, and it's over.


End file.
